Touhou Manokyoukai: The Borders Between
by LunaticLunarian
Summary: The parallel worlds are in great peril. A being that seeks to wipe out all existence is being released from its prison in the gap between dimensions. Yukari Yakumo is the first to realize the impending danger, and now she plans to summon the greatest warriors mankind has ever known. In all this, a person, ordinary by all means, finds himself stuck in the middle of this incident.
1. Prologue

__Disclaimer: I do not own the franchise, nor am I affiliated with Team Shanghai Alice. If I were, I'd be busting my butt off making the next cool Touhou game.

_"I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted work described above is not authorized by the copyright owner (or by a third party who is legally entitled to do so on behalf of the copyright owner) and is not otherwise permitted by law."_

I copied this from somewhere, 'The Tale of Rumia.' Thanks, man. :D

_Touhou __Manokyoukai: The Borders Between_

Prologue

Darkness. In that place there was only deep, unfathomable, undeniable darkness. No, it would be too generous to _it_ a name. But to be in _it_ was to lose all physical sense, to be floating endlessly in a place of nothing and everything. Human minds, finite and foolish, cannot begin to comprehend such a concept. So incomprehensible it was that to claim understanding of _it_ would be the same as losing one self within _it,_ to be part of the nothingness where existence ends.

But Yukari Yakumo knew what _it_ was, and what _it _held within its bosom. The Youkai of Boundaries boasted great power, greater than anything and everything that existed within the land of Gensokyo. And yet she felt a sliver of fear run down her spine as she gazed at the unknown existence, chained down by countless tendrils of deep darkness.

"Yukari-sama, is something the matter?" the nine-tailed kitsune asked, standing by the great youkai's side with vigilance and concerned. Though the way the tips of her tails curled and the subtle uneasiness on her face said that she'd rather be facing the Lunarians single-handedly than stay for one more second in this place.

"Worry about yourself first, dear Ran. I'm afraid you'll start shedding off hair any moment now," Yukari said, a small smile gracing her red lips. Half of her body rested inside the comfort of her own portal, which was probably a large reason why she could stand to stay and stare at the existence she feared.

"Why are we here in the first place? We were supposed to be at the Hakurei Shrine for the spring feast. We didn't even say anything before we vanished into thin air."

Yukari's smile tightened and her eye twitched as she tried to dismiss the faint movement she detected as mere hallucination. But youkai as powerful as her rarely get delusional. "Ran," she said. "Look into the darkness, and tell me what you see."

The fox youkai squinted, trying to look past an entire wall of black, but managing to reach only that which Yukari's own light penetrated. "…I admit, Yukari-sama, that I see nothing. Nothing at all," she said.

"Exactly," said Yukari in a way that she expected Ran's answer to explain itself. Given the look of confusion on her shikigami's face, she continued. "What you see is Nothing. Or more exactly, a non-existence that yearns to erase all forms of existence – simply put, to reduce all to Nothing."

"I… don't understand," Ran said, becoming more unsettled by the minute. "Isn't 'nothing' supposed to be just an expression?"

Yukari chuckled, like a mother would to an ignorant child. "I'm sure you are familiar with the concept of Yin and Yang, my dear. Tell me, what is its basic tenet?"

Ran answered slowly. "That there is balance in all things?"

"Correct." Yukari waved her hand, creating a ball of the brightest light anyone's ever seen. Its brilliance rivalled the sun, and Ran could feel the tremendous amount of energy radiating from it – enough power to decimate an entire continent. For a while, it drove back the darkness, the genesis of existence in this dark abyss. All of the kitsune's doubts, fears, worries, sorrows, hatred were all washed away in the welcoming warmth of the new sun. She was almost convinced that it was all Yukari's idea of a practical joke, as she so often did with the denizens of Gensokyo.

And then it was swallowed up in a blink, so fast that Ran almost didn't catch it. The great brilliance that lit up the darkness disappeared in a flash, and the shadows came washing over them like a tidal wave; cold, heavy, oppressive.

"It… It can't be," Ran gasped, and she felt a great fear creep into her once again, stronger than every single negative emotion the light orb took away. She trembled slightly, her tails swishing around nervously, and if her dress wasn't in the way one of them would be tucked between her legs.

Yukari was still smiling, though her eyes were hard with apprehension. "Balance in all things, Ran. Light and Shadow, Good and Evil, Life and Death," she pointed to the darkness with her parasol, not unlike a fencer before performing the coup the grace. "Existence and Void."

The great shadow _moved_, shifting against the darkness that held it back. Ran visibly jumped back, yelping like a fox and hiding behind her master like one. Yukari lowered the parasol and stood still, but her smile was completely gone. This time she could no longer lie to herself; the seals were weakening, and she was quickly running out of time. All the parallel worlds were in danger of being sent to the Void. The violet-clad Youkai, representative of her dimension, had less than thirteen months to figure out how to stop the cataclysmic event.

"And so Chaos comes to bring all into the Void," Yukari flicked her wrist, and then they were back at the Forest of Magic; or rather, they were standing on the dirt pathway between the forest and the Human Village. Ran let out an audible sigh and slumped back onto the grass, the light breeze brining a liberating sense of relief within her. But she immediately stood up again after a sharp, intense glance from her master.

"What should we do now, master? How can we defeat something that doesn't exist?" Ran asked anxiously, patting the dust off her dress.

Yukari stayed silent, instead turning to her right. The kitsune followed her gaze seeing a shabby-looking house that looked like it had been abandoned for years. But Ran knew better. She raised a questioning eyebrow at Yukari, clearly at a loss. The violet-clad youkai merely laughed as if she hadn't just been face-to-face with an undefeatable force that could not be stopped until there was absolutely nothing left.

"We're going to go shopping, my dear," she said with that ever-present smile of hers. "And I think Kourindou is the best place around."


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Modern Relic from the Previous Era

Once, there was a land called Gensokyo. It was a paradise filled with all manner of strange and wondrous creatures; youkai, gods, monsters and demons from the colorful mythology of the Japanese people. It was landlocked in the heart of the country, surrounded by great mountains on all sides. But it wasn't the landscape that separated it from the rest of the world. If it were, it would still be on the maps, and tourists from all over would come to appreciate its unspoiled, natural and rural beauty. No, it was a strange power that kept the mundane humans outside ignorant of this place.

Rinnosuke Morichika was one of the few humans who lived inside Gensokyo, and the only one that had the privilege of having a shop – Kourindou – that catered to both human and youkai alike. His shop was special in that he had a monopoly on items from the outside world, objects that denizens of Gensokyo considered marvellous treasures. See, there were perks to living in this land, but it also had its disadvantages; it was mostly backward, the only part of Japan that still lived in the Heian Era.

Rinnosuke didn't mind, even though he himself was a drifter from the outside world. It had been so long that he sometimes forgot what it all looked like. After witnessing many incidents that had plagued Gensokyo, his previous life seemed more a dream than anything.

"To think that the ones who solved all those incidents were only girls," Rinnosuke muttered, taking a sip from his tea. He sat down in the middle of what could only be stacks of random merchandise, haphazardly placed around in what was supposed to be the shop floor. It was only fitting, seeing that he never sold much in the first place. Strangely enough the shop was very popular, even if it looked like a house slated for demolition.

In reality, he was simply the kind of person who loved his things too much to let them go. He sometimes thought if he was ever fit to be a businessman, especially if the people around didn't usually respect his job of being a shopkeeper.

"Yes, those same girls that just come and go here as they please, acting like they own the place," he took another sip, enjoying the cool wind that came from an electric fan that was plugged to a solar panel outside. It was a fairly new discovery, and he was very happy when it finally powered up the old computer that was kept hidden and useless beneath piles of junk. Of course, that meant more visits from people who annoy him, especially a certain magician and a puppeteer who was innately curious about the _shikigami_ known as a personal computer.

In fact, he was expecting either one or both of them in a few minutes for another one of their brainstorming sessions in which they try to find out how to properly operate the machine. It came with a manual, but they couldn't make heads or tails of the numerous technical terms that sounded almost like witchcraft to them. One way or another it would be one of those days where he'll end up frustrated yet oddly satisfied; he was rather fond of that computer, more than the other things he owned, and he had been itching to learn how to use it.

So it came as a surprise to him when the person who rang the bell was neither the normal magician nor the seven-colored puppeteer, but the last one he expected to come into his shop. Ever.

"Yukari Yakumo," he set down his cup and hurriedly stood up, almost getting stains on his blue-and-red clothing. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" he said, quickly bowing at the end.

"Oh, no need to be so formal, Rinnosuke," Yukari said, entering through the door with her kitsune not far behind.

'_That usually depends on the type of person that comes here_,' he thought, but quickly dismissed it. "What are you looking for, then?" he politely asked.

"I hear you trade in items from the outside world. I'm interested in purchasing one."

Purchase. The word rang a chord long forgotten within him, sounding a tune that he once heard when he first opened Kourindou. Excitement welled up, suddenly anticipating the first real sale he had in a very, very long time. "Certainly!" he said with a bit more cheer than needed. "Um, wait a moment. I have some fairly recent items here from-"

"No need," Yukari raised a hand, stopping the merchant from his frantic movements. "I know exactly what I need."

Rinnosuke opened his mouth to speak, but seeing the youkai's eyes shut him up quicker. There was something in them that dampened his short-lived elation, something that scared him more than Marisa's haphazard Master Sparks. It wasn't like great youkai to be worried, and he'd probably be dead if he tried to ask why.

Instead, he proceeded with the transaction like normal as all good businessmen should do. "What item is it, Yukari-san?"

"I know you have a solar panel outside, and I can only assume that you're using the energy to power a certain object you treat very affectionately."

The merchant twitched, and for a moment he forgot he was in the presence of Yukari Yakumo and her powerful nine-tailed retainer. "Forgive me, but the computer is not for sale. Non-negotiable," he said before he could stop himself.

"Oh? Is that so?" the corner of Yukari's lips curled up into a smirk, and she playfully tapped her parasol on the hardwood floor of the shop. "Then what's stopping me from taking it by force?"

Behind her, Ran gently yet forcefully flared out her tails, faintly showing the tips of her canine teeth. In Gensokyo, or pretty much anywhere else, youkai were ten times stronger than normal humans. Rinnosuke was actually lucky he lived in an age where youkai and humans could live in relative peace and harmony, but it was still a bad decision to cross a youkai for any reason.

And he was going to risk his life for one of the things he loved most. It was foolish, but then humans were inherently foolish. "I-"

"I knew you were up to something when you suddenly vanished from the feast, but I wasn't expecting to see you here," a familiar voice spoke from outside, and Rinnosuke saw a flash of red and white from behind the violet-clad youkai; Gensokyo's chief shrine maiden and youkai exterminator, Hakurei Reimu, had come to Kourindou for an after-party afternoon tea with the merchant. And she didn't look happy.

"What are you doing here, Yukari?" she asked, clearly annoyed.

"I'm just doing a little shopping, dear Reimu. Is there something wrong with that?" Yukari answered.

"There is if you're brewing up another incident," she said, stepping to the side and into the shop. "You remember what happened the last time you did that. Cleaning up those ghosts gave me a cold for two weeks."

"No, no I'm not going to do something like that again. In my defense I was too sleepy to notice what I was doing," Yukari sat down in front of Rinnosuke's table, whipping herself a steaming cup of tea from a little gap in the boundary.

Reimu clicked her teeth, making herself comfortable near the table as well. Without warning she took another of Rinnosuke's cups and poured herself tea. The merchant, as usual, was left in the sidelines, already used to such treatment from the shrine maiden. "I don't care. If you're up to something it means more unnecessary trouble for me."

"Don't forget about me, da ze." Rinnosuke moaned. The other troublemaker was here in the form of a blonde girl in black-and-white European clothing, complete with oversized witch hat. "You're not the only one who resolves incidents around here, you know."

"Yeah. I'm the only _successful_ one," Reimu said without even looking, sipping daintily from her cup, completely ignoring the annoyed look on Marisa Kirisame's face. "Anyway, what is it that you want here, Yukari?"

Yukari simply smiled, glancing at the maiden with an unreadable look. "Reimu, do you know what it means to exist?"

"What are you talking about now?"

"Come on, humor me."

"Isn't to exist, you know, to be alive or something?" Marisa said, taking her place around the table with an outside world snack she grabbed from Rinnosuke's stash. "Damn, these… _Do. Ri. Tos_ are really good, da ze."

"That's a very simple way of putting it," Yukari said. "But also inaccurate. Dead things exist, don't they? Aliens exist too, even if they have completely different concepts of 'being alive.' If you think about it, concepts and ideas exist, but they aren't necessarily alive."

"To exist is to be; to find one's place in the middle of nothingness," said Reimu, biting on a rice cracker from Rinnosuke's bowl. "Isn't it that simple?"

"Tell me then, how does something come into existence?"

"It just… does?" Reimu answered, before quickly tiring of the discussion with a frustrated sigh. "Anyway, what does this have to do with you being here in Kourindou? It was supposed to be my afternoon tea time here."

"Are you kidding me? Today was our brainstorming session for that old computer Rinnosuke finally got working," Marisa said. At the word 'computer' Yukari grinned mischievously, which made the merchant gulp nervously. He was almost relieved that the youkai would forget the computer with the way their conversation was going, but Marisa just had to go and blurt it out.

"Computer…? That old rickety thing that's supposed to be a shikigami from the outside world? You finally got it working?" Reimu's focus instantly shifted. "Can I take a look at it? I'm really interested to see how it works."

'_Not to mention the ways I can use it to gain more worshippers and donations for the shrine. If I could get that shikigami under my control…_' Reimu's thoughts were obvious to the magician, and she wasn't going to have any of it.

Meanwhile, Yukari's smile only grew wider, and so did Rinnosuke's apprehension. He felt that he was losing control of the situation, fast. If he didn't do something he would eventually lose the computer as well.

"Sorry, Reimu-chan. We're still working on the computer so no one else can use it but me and Rinnosuke," Marisa said, cruching down on a rice cracker.

"I think you're forgetting someone there, Marisa," another female voice spoke. Ran jumped back in surprise, suddenly aware of the blonde youkai holding a large tome, with seven dolls circling around her.

"Ah, er… right. Plus Alice," Marisa sheepishly said. "Sorry, eh?"

'_Great. More people_,' Rinnosuke could only bury his face in his hands, trying to get a handle on the situation here. _'I should've known better than to hope for an actual sale today_._ If this keeps up there's only going to be trouble… What should I do?_'

While the merchant worried about the welfare of his shop, the three girls kept bickering among themselves, with Yukari and Ran watching on in silence. "It's two against one now, Reimu. You have no choice but to wait until we're done tinkering with it, da ze," Marisa said, grinning victoriously.

"I think it's best if I took part in the tinkering. Who knows what you two might do with it?" Reimu said, steadfast in her suggestion.

Alice chuckled. "You worry too much, Reimu-san. We're merely old-school magicians who don't know anything about this sort of technology. If it were me, I'd be more worried about the tengu and the kappa stealing it and then playing around with it."

For a moment Reimu considered her words, and then nodded in acknowledgement. "Okay, so you have a point. Marisa might not be a problem…"

"Hey!" Marisa exclaimed.

"…But I still can't ignore someone who's good in making stuff. Your knowledge in doll-making could very well be useful in tampering with the computer," Reimu said. "For all I know you could be adding spy dolls inside that listen to my every conversation, watch my every move, and record my every action in the computer itself."

"Is that a challenge, Reimu-san?" Alice said, all her dolls whipping out various forms of sharp and pointy weaponry. The puppeteer herself had a piece of paper in her hand; a spell card, which could only mean one thing.

"Hey hey," Rinnosuke finally spoke up, protective tendencies for his shop flaring up. "If you guys want to duel could you please take it outside?"

"That sounds like a plan," Reimu gulped down the rest of her tea and stood up, walking past Alice with a grin. "Come here, Alice. Prepare to be beaten down a fourth time."

The puppeteer followed shortly after the shrine maiden and closed the door behind her. Soon enough they all heard the unmistakable booms and zooms of countless danmaku being shot. Yukari continued to sip from her tea. Ran brought out a Chen doll and began playing with it, a look of longing on her face. Marisa started talking about her latest spell card, which involved using a prism to turn the Master Spark into a multi-directional laser of pure destruction.

Rinnosuke was still troubled about the prospect of selling his precious computer. There was still so much he could do with it, discover from it. It was a mine of knowledge previously hoarded by the mountain youkai. Who knew what technological advancements the humans could make with the help of this machine? And for it to fall into the hands of a youkai…

He wasn't willing to let it go, and Yukari didn't fail to notice that. "Forgive me, Rinnosuke-san. I haven't explained myself properly yet," she said. "I don't seek to purchase anything, but rather to rent."

Rinnosuke perked up, sensing a way out from selling his precious. "Rent, Yukari-sama?"

"Yes. In the outside world they had something like Internet Cafes where people come inside shops to use computers for a set amount of time. I wish do that here; rent your computer for a short while," Yukari said. "Is that fine with you?"

"Yes!" Rinnosuke said, a little louder than needed. Realizing this he coughed a bit and said, "I mean, let me set-up the system right here. Marisa, shall we?"

"Yes, sir!"

* * *

"Fascinating," Yukari whispered, staring at the bright hills rolling in the computer screen. Ran sat down next to her, looking equally, if not more awed at the contraption. Her eyes were practically sparkling with curious delight. "I have seen this device numerous times in the past, yet it never fails to amaze me. That solar panel of yours must have been a blessing from the gods, Rinnosuke."

"I agree," the merchant said, smiling with pride for his machine. "The other day, when I went out to do some shopping at the village, I saw the panel lying near a Buddha statue. I was never a Buddhist, but I fervently prayed like a monk that day."

Yukari glided her hands over the smooth, plastic typing mechanism, testing some keys to see what effect it would have on the screen. Then she turned to the strange oblong-shaped device, moving it around over a special green pad. As she did so, the white pointed object screen moved along with her. Rinnosuke told her that the typing mechanism was called a 'keyboard' and the oblong device, a 'mouse.'

Something on the screen caught her eye, and she moved the mouse on top of it. She double-clicked it and a 'window' appeared, filled with all manner of meters and buttons that confused the heck out of Ran. Yukari however was growing anticipated. She could feel something pulsing beneath the hard, metallic shell of the computer, different from the circuits and electronics tangled within.

"Vo… ca… loid…" Yukari carefully said, speaking out the name of the strange program above its window. "So that's what you are."

The pulsing grew louder, faintly at first then slowly rising in intensity. There was something knocking against the computer's electronic prison, waiting to be released. "Ahaha! What a feisty little thing you are. Perfect for my experiment."

"'Scuse me, but I think I just heard you say 'experiment,' da ze. You tryin' to take advantage of Reimu's absence to do your dirty work?" Marisa said, looming behind the Yakumo pair.

"It's more of a thought experiment than anything, nothing really harmful or destructive," Yukari said reassuringly, more to the computer-loving Rinnosuke than to Marisa.

"Oh yeah?" Marisa grinned. "Sounds interestin'. What is it about?"

"Would you believe me if I said that there's a being living inside of this computer?"

"I'd say you were crazy, and you'd proceed to send your fox at me to prove your point."

"I'd have to agree," Rinnosuke chimed in. "I know for a fact that computers are just machines with no capacity for rational thought. Unless it's a _tsukumogami_, which I highly doubt that it is."

"You're right about one thing, Rinnosuke-san. The computer itself isn't a _tsukumogami_," Yukari raised a finger and pressed it against the screen. "…But this program is."

A violet portal spread out across the screen, filled with eyes that stared anywhere and everywhere. The machine started crackling under the power of Yukari's Border Manipulation. She was essentially opening a hole in the border between the 'inside' and the 'outside' of the computer in order to let the pulsing creature out of its cage.

Marisa stared on in shock and awe, mouth dropping open as an arm shot out of the portal as if it was being pulled by an external force. Rinnosuke's shoulders sagged in resignation, having accepted the fact that he would no longer be able to enjoy using the computer after Yukari's done with it.

Just then the door opened to reveal a dishevelled-looking puppeteer and a proud shrine maiden, holding herself in a victorious manner. She was about to brag about her glorious triumph over Alice, but she was stumped silent at the sight of a girl trying to force her way out of a very small computer. On instinct she readied her purification rod and Yin-Yang orbs for another battle, and Alice did the same with her dolls.

"Just wait and watch carefully, you two," Yukari said without even looking.

After a few more seconds the girl was finally out of the portal, slumped down on the floor in exhaustion. Reimu examined her features to determine what kind of youkai she was, only to find herself with no idea of its identity. The girl in strange clothing shakily stood up, grabbing onto a nearby stack of boxes for support. A breeze blew in from outside, making the girl's long, teal pigtails float momentarily.

"Where… Where am I?" the girl asked.

"You're in Kourindou, child," Yukari said with a motherly tone. "Don't worry, we mean you no harm, just as long as you don't annoy the girl in red and white over there."

"Hey, you make it sound like I have destructive tendencies," Reimu complained.

"That's because you_ do _have such tendencies," Alice muttered.

"Only towards youkai like you," Reimu stared at the girl and her strange clothes and could only think of a person from the outside world, with their strange ways and customs. "But then she came out of that computer, so I still don't know what to make of her. Let's just hope she's not another nuisance I have to deal in the future."

Ignoring the two, Yukari continued to entertain the newcomer. "My name is Yukari Yakumo, the one who set you free from your prison. Now child, can you please tell me your name?"

"My name…" the girl's teal eyes stared into Yukari's crimson ones. She was unreadable, like the runic compositions popular in Motoori's library. But it felt more like the pristine whiteness of blank pages than anything else; devoid of anything else but the simple fact that she was alive.

"I do not have a real name, but they call me Hatsune Miku."


End file.
